A little about me, a lot about books, and a dash of something else

Book Collecting: Update #24

I am finally(!!!) home from school again, and when I arrived, there were books waiting to greet me! 😀

All of the books you are about to see have been sent to me by either the publisher or author. Regrettably, I most likely will not have time to get to all of these novels during my break (I already have others novels that I promised to read and review before I received these request), but I will be working my way through them in order through which I received each request 🙂

So, even if I don’t get to a chance to read these, I have included links to the Goodreads and Amazon pages for you to learn more about these novels – that I wish(!) I could read!

Escapology by Ren Warom

Shock Pao is the best. In the virtual world the Slip there’s nothing he can’t steal for the right price. Outside the Slip, though, he’s a Fail – no degree, no job. So when his ex offers him a job, breaking into a corporate databank, he accepts—it’s either that, or find himself a nice bench to sleep under. Amiga works for psychotic crime lord Twist Calhoun so when Shock’s war comes to her, it’s her job to bring him to Twist, dead or alive.

Virology by Ren Warom

Core is dark and Slip is everywhere, vital to everything that happens in the world and outside of anyone s control. Avis float the skies and their arrival will trigger a tide of rebellion against the system in Foon Gung.

The key is Shock Pao, within him lies the means to control Slip. Control Slip, control the world. Shock was a Haunt once, impossible to find, but he isn t anymore, and he s running out of places to hide.
Shock finds himself on the run from, well, everyone. This time though, he s not alone. But as the sickness infecting the Patient Zeros gets worse and begins to spread, he and his rag-tag group of friends must begin a desperate search for a cure. If they don t find out what s causing this, who s causing this and find a way to put a stop to it, everything they ve fought for, the brief freedom they ve managed to achieve, will come undone. But with everyone after Shock, it s going to take every skill they possess both legal and illegal to hunt down the source of the sickness, whilst making sure no one gets the means to take control of Slip.
The search will take them to the hubs: to the breathless heights of New York, the deadly streets of London, the insane underworld of Shanghai and into the rot eating away at the heart of Hong Kong, toward an evil that makes Hive Queens look like common garden insects.

Tell me those covers don’t look awesome?! I showed my fried all of these novels and the first two she pointed out where these, and asked, “What are those about?! I want to read them!”

Wilders (Project Earth #1) by Brenda Cooper

Coryn Williams is left behind in the megacity of Seacouver after her parents commit suicide and her sister, Lou, flees the city to work for a non-governmental organization (NGO) in the wild lands. For company, Coryn has her companion robot, Paula, who helps her get through school, keeps her safe in the city, and acts a coach for her in many things — including running marathons. But Coryn misses her sister. When she graduates from high school, she is required to choose a profession. She refuses, instead choosing to “go feral” and leave the safety of her city to find Lou. She abandons most of her technology, which will not work in the wilds anyway, but brings along her robot companion, Paula.

Wilders explores the relationship between the two sisters, between the megacites and the wild lands, and between a city girl and her robot protector. Coryn must grow up during a science fictional adventure full of drone flights and fights, frightening ecobots, and dangerous weather.

It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone here that I am reading another novel by Brenda Cooper 😉

City of Miracles (Divine Cities #3) by Robert Jackson Bennett

Revenge. It’s something Sigrud je Harkvaldsson is very, very good at. Maybe the only thing.

So when he learns that his oldest friend and ally, former Prime Minister Shara Komayd, has been assassinated, he knows exactly what to do and that no mortal force can stop him from meting out the suffering Shara’s killers deserve.

Yet as Sigrud pursues his quarry with his customary terrifying efficiency, he begins to fear that this battle is an unwinnable one. Because discovering the truth behind Shara’s death will require him to take up arms in a secret, decades-long war, face down an angry young god, and unravel the last mysteries of Bulikov, the city of miracles itself. And perhaps most daunting of all finally face the truth about his own cursed existence.

The Damned (The Darkest Hand #1) by Tarn Richardson

1914. The outbreak of war. In the French city of Arras, a Father is brutally murdered. The Catholic Inquisition – still powerful, but now working in the shadows – sends its most determined and unhinged of Inquisitors, Poldek Tacit to investigate: his mission to protect the Church from those who would seek to undermine it, no matter what the cost.

Yet as Tacit arrives, armed forces led by Britain and Germany confront each other across No Man’s Land. As the Inquisitor strives in vain to establish the truth behind the murder and to uncover the motives of other Vatican servants seeking to undermine him, a beautiful and spirited woman, Sandrine, warns British soldier Henry Frost of a mutual foe even more terrible lurking beneath the killing fields that answers to no human force and wreaks their havoc by the light of the moon. Faced with impossible odds and his own demons, Tacit must battle the forces of evil, and a church determined at all costs to achieve its aims, to reach the heart of a dark conspiracy that seeks to engulf the world, plunging it ever deeper into conflict.

Morally complex and fast paced, this is a gripping work of dark fiction set in an alternative twentieth century, where humanity’s desire for love, compassion and peace face daunting challenges in a world overwhelmed by total war and mysterious dark forces.

Tarn was also kind enough to sign my copy of The Damned and include some signed for the third book, The Risen.

Read any of these books yet? Which would you read first? What is on your summer TBR?